By Pasi Sahlberg and Peter Johnson Originally published in Washington Post on 30 August 2019 Finland has been in the spotlight of the education world since it appeared, against all odds, on the top of the rankings of an international test known as PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment, in the early 2000s. Tens of thousands visitors have traveled to the country to see how to improve their own schools. Hundreds…
read moreAbout a year ago my life turned upside down, literally. My wife and I, with our two school-aged children, moved to Sydney from Helsinki. We soon realised that Australians do not walk upside down. But there were some things that we were not prepared for. Ever since we arrived in our new hometown, people were curious to know how we chose a school for our sons. For us it was no-brainer — the neighbourhood public school. But most…
read moreThe U.S. can learn a big lesson from Finland’s education system: Instead of stress and standardized testing, schools should focus on well-being and joy By Pasi Sahlberg and William Doyle Five years ago, we switched countries. Pasi Sahlberg came to the U.S. as a visiting professor at Harvard University, and William Doyle moved to Finland to study its world-renowned school system as a Fulbright scholar. We brought our families…
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